Protective hoods of this kind are used, for example, for passengers in an aircraft in order to provide them with a suitable protection against the development of smoke in the case of an emergency and to make possible a needed supply of oxygen in the event of decompression. A combined protective hood of this kind is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,559,939.
The handling of such a combined protective hood is, however, complex in that first the protective hood must be pulled over the head before the breathing connection to the oxygen supply can be established. This handling operation unnecessarily increases the time until the oxygen supply actually becomes available to the passenger in the event of a decompression situation.
In decompression situations, it is first most important that the required oxygen supply is established. This can be achieved with the known protective hoods in that first only the mask is pressed against the face. If an annoying or dangerous development of smoke occurs during the emergency which requires putting on a smoke-protective hood, then the previously applied oxygen mask must be removed and the protective hood must be pulled over the head and the breathing-gas supply reestablished by placing the oxygen mask onto a corresponding connection provided on the protective hood. The passenger is decoupled from the oxygen supply while carrying out this manipulation and must unfold the hood with difficulty and pull the same over the head. However, in an emergency, the passenger does not have adequate time and cannot use the requisite care so that improper handling and an incorrect seating of the hood results.